Originally posted by Steve Slocombe
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Dear Chuck, 19 inch rims were standard on the VL until 1934, when 18" appeared as an option in the factory order blanks. I make the new 18 and 19 inch rims in the UK, which are about a pound heavier than those Chinese or Indian 18" repros because of the use of thicker material, like the originals. I find original rims can suffer heavy pitting inside, spokes pull through the rims, they go out of round, you get pits and flats on the visible parts which get hit in judging, and so on. Any 19" rim is likely to be 70 years old. I use 19 x 4.00 tyres, or 18 x 4.50, which fill the mudguards, and the 18 x 4.00 are fine too on the later bikes with deep mudguard valances. All were available originally, in Goodyear or Firestone, as well as the early 19 x 4.40 not being reproduced. Keen riders say the 1940 move to 16 x 5.00 wheels was a backward step, as it made the front end heavier and the bikes lost the excellent handling of the VL and early knuckleheads.
Watch out for the 18" rims, as these could be for the VL, knucklehead, WLA or WLC. Spoke angles are different in each case. The WLA front wheel uses lighter spokes and nipples, and the WLC has anchor bolt holes in the rim. Knucklehead spokes do not fit the VL and vice versa. VL spokes are 'inner' and 'outer' with quite different head angles. VL wheels are interchangeable, including sidecar, because of the splined hubs.
On spokes, the AMCA judges now demand bead-blasted unpolished stainless to simulate the original cadmium. The late knucklehead service manual says spoke the wheels with the hub grease connection 180 degrees from the inflator, but there is no evidence for this on earlier bikes, and original VL wheels seem pretty random. You may want to humour the judges though. Judged VLs will also need the Schrader valve cheaters and the washers under the hub alemites, or a quarter point a wheel each time - ouch.
Finally on nipples, the original Harley ones have a 40 tpi thread while the European ones, and I think Buchanan's are 32 tpi. That means you can't mix and match original and new spokes and nipples - aargh! I've machined some 40 tpi nipples but they are expensive. I'm also trying to get 40 tpi spokes made, and finished in cad rather than made in stainless.
Watch out for the 18" rims, as these could be for the VL, knucklehead, WLA or WLC. Spoke angles are different in each case. The WLA front wheel uses lighter spokes and nipples, and the WLC has anchor bolt holes in the rim. Knucklehead spokes do not fit the VL and vice versa. VL spokes are 'inner' and 'outer' with quite different head angles. VL wheels are interchangeable, including sidecar, because of the splined hubs.
On spokes, the AMCA judges now demand bead-blasted unpolished stainless to simulate the original cadmium. The late knucklehead service manual says spoke the wheels with the hub grease connection 180 degrees from the inflator, but there is no evidence for this on earlier bikes, and original VL wheels seem pretty random. You may want to humour the judges though. Judged VLs will also need the Schrader valve cheaters and the washers under the hub alemites, or a quarter point a wheel each time - ouch.
Finally on nipples, the original Harley ones have a 40 tpi thread while the European ones, and I think Buchanan's are 32 tpi. That means you can't mix and match original and new spokes and nipples - aargh! I've machined some 40 tpi nipples but they are expensive. I'm also trying to get 40 tpi spokes made, and finished in cad rather than made in stainless.
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